you know ya got no tags/license yet you still go hunting..?how ya gonna tag it?explain it to the warden?I dont know bout you you but the night before i go hunting its like ..well."he's making his list he's checking it twice...[:D]

I hear ya Joel but in Rick's defense, that happened to me once but it was because of changing packs and missing the tags.

The NY regs state that the deer must be tagged when "found dead" As soon as a peek around the corner of the trail showed me I was gonna "find it dead" I immediately scampered for the truck. Nothing beats your (and my) system of checking the night before though.

Oops! Just reread my post and that was incorrect. The tag must be filled out as soon as the animal is found dead. It doesn't have to be tagged until at a point where transportable by vehicle

But, the license must be with you while afield, or you`re poaching. [/quote]

I won't defend violating game laws, but I think we should be open enough to accept that mistakes are sometimes made.

STORY:
Years ago when I hunted with a party, one of our guys got caught w/o his licance. He was in a panic when he realized that he had left it on this bedroom dresser. This poor guy lived two hours away!

The DNR officer said, "It's your lucky day. I live near you and I will be home by 10:00 tonight. If you show up at my house with your licance before I go to bed, I'll tear up this thicket."

Needless to say, our guy was on the officers door step at 10:00 pm sharp. He had to make a four hour round trip, but he avoided a fine and a mark on his record. I thought it was classy on the part of the officer and the right thing to do all around.

I won't defend violating game laws, but I think we should be open enough to accept that mistakes are sometimes made.

STORY: Years ago when I hunted with a party, one of our guys got caught w/o his licance. He was in a panic when he realized that he had left it on this bedroom dresser. This poor guy lived two hours away!

The DNR officer said, "It's your lucky day. I live near you and I will be home by 10:00 tonight. If you show up at my house with your licance before I go to bed, I'll tear up this thicket."

Needless to say, our guy was on the officers door step at 10:00 pm sharp. He had to make a four hour round trip, but he avoided a fine and a mark on his record. I thought it was classy on the part of the officer and the right thing to do all around.

Absolutely a great thing the CO did, not many good guys like that out there.

Most of these guys have heard it all, seen it all, and they know when a guy made an honest mistake, or is lying.

Point is though, not having a license afield is a violation, whether intended or not. You need to be prepared, and if you realize you`ve left it at home, and hunt anyway, as in the original story here, you get what you deserve.

"Point is though, not having a license afield is a violation, whether intended or not."

i agree 100%. If the law says you must have your liscense, then have it. There isn't a grey area here at all.

My checklist before leaving for EVERY hunt is as follows: "gun, liscense, ammo, orange." modified for archery to "bow, liscense, release, camo (face mask, gloves)" Everytime, sometimes 4-5 times. Whatever it takes to know that i have the essentials everytime i leave my house.

Don't get me wrong, i typically forget something nearly everytime i go out. Sometimes more than one thing. But i will ALWAYS have the essentials that are required to be in the field. Everything beyond these items are not necessary. Useful, perhaps. But not required for me to be successful and legal.

Had a friend of a friend go out to Monatana with us 2 years back. He forgot his liscense. His wife overnighted it, but with no local post office it was a mess. Long story short...he didn't hunt for the first 3 days of a 5 day hunt becuase of this error. No one to blame but himself.

Opening day of duck season this year i left my waders on the poach. Well I havent missed opening day of duck season in a long time and decided to be a trooper and wear my nike shox for the day. A litttle chilly to say the least!!

Hunting isn't a matter of Life or Death
Its MUCH more important than that!